In the wake of a series of fatal accidents involving cyclists and motorists in Miami, a local blog has developed a "collision database" to track the least safe areas to ride bicycles in Miami.
Transit Miami has begun an ambitious project to document the crashes that often prove fatal in and around Miami, using a Google map that keeps track of the accident sites and whether there were any fatalities.
"While the data is unpleasant, we’re hoping to call attention to problem locations over time," wrote blog founder Gabriel Lopez-Bernal, who added that 5,000 cyclists and pedestrians are killed each year in vehicular accidents. "Enough is enough – we’re launching an aggressive campaign to reverse this trend."
The group wants to point out problem areas so that solutions can be found to make them safer and hopes to get reader submissions to support their own reports on collisions.
News of the database comes just two weeks after cyclist Christopher LeCanne was killed in a collision with a car driven by Miami musician Carlos Bertonatti on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Bertonatti, 28, has been charged with vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident after allegedly striking the 44-year-old LeCanne.
Vigils and memorial rides have been held for the cyclist since the accident.
